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56:842:554 Writing Machines (Fall 2016)

What does it mean to write with machines? We have long used machines to write, and those machines have always actively shaped how writing happens. Today, this question is extended even further, since we are writing alongside computational machines. From algorithms that generate news stories to bots that edit Wikipedia to the various "autocomplete" functions on our devices, computational machines are doing a great deal of writing. This course will ask how such machines force us to reconsider what we mean when we say we write "with" machines. More than mere tools, machines are collaborating with us and, in some cases, writing with very little human intervention. Students will both read about and experiment with various computational technologies. No technological expertise is required.[Cross-Listed with 56:606:611]